Welting and shoemaking therewith



W. C. VIZARD WELTING AND SHOEMAKING T HEREWITH 5, Eggs.

2 Sheets-Sheet" 1 Filed April 6, 1935 R Y mm E NMfM 56%. V T W A 7 mm y 1936- w, C.IVIZARD 2,039,370

WELTING AND SHOEMAKING THEREWITH Filed April 6, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented May 5, 1936 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WELTING AND SHOEMAKING THEREWITH Application April 6, 1933, Serial No. 664,722

18 Claims.

10 tained before. A further savingis gained if the shoe is welted about the heel as well as about the forepart. The welt is so prepared and fitted that it eliminates the'necessity for excess margin on the upper, formerly used as a lasting allowance. 15 The welt reinforces the lower edge of the short upper, provides a stub-proof toe on shoes for the youngsters, and forms a waterproof seam that is highly advantageous, particularly in the serviceable type of sport shoe. Furthermore there is a saving of many shoemakingoperations in the manufacture of shoes with this welting over those required for Goodyear shoes, for example insole channeling and its allied operations, vamp trimming, inseamtrimming and bottom filling. 'It

also substitutes the comparatively cheap Singer or Puritan dry thread sewing machine for the more expensive Goodyear welt and turn sewing machine in the step of securing the welt to the upper, and other and possibly cheaper securing 30 means may be used such as metallic fasteners. The shoe having this welt incorporated has a floating insole unchanneled like a McKay insole but without the McKay stitching. This provides increased flexibility and since the insole and out- 35 sole contact each other no discomforting insole gutter can be formed by length of wear.

The novel welting comprises a pair of edge flaps within which the short upper is secured, the two flaps reinforcing the upper both inside and 40 outside and preferably being integral with the outturned welt extension to insure a weatherproof shoe. The upper may be preliminarily secured to the inner flap alone or to both flaps and in the former event the outer flap may be 45 secured to the upper either by cement or a through-and-through fastening as may be desired.

The main objects of this invention are to pro- 50 duce a welt adapted for securement to the lower edge of an upper too short to overlast in suchmanner that on lasting the shoe the welt extension will provide an outturned flange in position for bottoming with an outsole, and to produce a 55 shoe having the advantages hereinbefore referred to and such-others as may appear from the following description.

To the accomplishment of these objects and such others as may hereinafter appear, as will readily be understood by those skilled in the art, 5 the invention comprises the welting and the shoe and the process of manufacture thereof as hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 showsa portion of a strand of grain leather used as a blank;

Fig. 2 shows the welting strand of Fig. 1 split at one edge to produce two upper embracing flaps and scored to facilitate turning these flaps upward relatively to the welt extension;

Fig. 3 shows how the welting strand of Fig. 2 is manipulated while securing a welt'to a short pp Fig. 4 shows an alternative method of securing the novel welting of this invention to a short pp Fig. 5 shows a lasted shoe, in sectionf-using a welted short upper according to this invention;

Fig. 6 is a view of a completed shoe, in perspective, the vamp being broken away to show the bottoming, outsole stitching and weatherproof seam provided by the novel welt;

Fig. '7 shows a fragment of a shoe, in section, illustrating the alternative welt and upper securement of Fig. 4, and also illustrating a skived outer welt flap applicable to dress shoes;

Fig. 8 shows a fragment of a shoe, in section, illustrating a skived inner welt flap for heavy duty shoes to provide a smooth inner surface;

Fig. 9 shows a portion of the novel welting modified, by the addition of strip material constituting lasting allowance; and

Fig. 10 shows a fragment of a shoe, in section, illustrating the' function of the added lasting allowance.

In the following description the manufacture and use of the welting of this invention will, for simplicity, be confined to the processing of grain leather, but it should be distinctly understood that the usefulness of this invention is not limited to leather because any suitable welting material may be processed and used in like manner; nor are dimensions given because they vary greatly with the size and kind of shoe for which the welting is made. The general field of usefulness of the welting includes children's, growing girls, misses, little gents and boys shoes; work shoes for all ages; and sport shoes, particularly of the serviceable type.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6 a grain leather strand I0 is edge split transversely and longitudinally producing a grain faced flap l2 and a flesh flap H integral with a grain extension IS. The location of the edge slit may vary according to the weight desired in either flaps but ordinarily centrally of the edge is satisfactory for a majority of welt sizes. The strand l0, before, after or during edge splitting, may be scored as at I! along the line of joinder of the flaps and extension to facilitate forming-up the welt; similarly one or more parallel, longitudinal indentations or grooves may be lightly impressed in the grain face of the flaps l2 to serve as'a guide for-the stitching room operator when securing the welt to the shoe upper.

Having prepared a short upper, i. e. one that lacks the extra length necessary to provide lasting allowance, and having prepared the welt, these two parts of the shoe are secured together. In one method (Fig. 3) the lower margin of the upper is inserted between the flaps l2 and I4 and secured by one or more rows of through-andthrough stitching laid in the guiding grooves l8. The weltjin its final form, has a right-angular cross-section the two flaps standing substantially perpendicular to the plane of the welt extension. In turning the two flaps upward along the fold line H the grain fac'ed flap slides upward on the flesh flap. If the upper is stitched. while the welt-is flat the grain faced flap-might buckle on final forming-up, whereas this exposed flap should be. flat and lie smoothly against the outer face of the upper. Accordingly the two flaps may be bent upward as shown in Fig. 3, prior to stitching with the Singer, Puritan or other suitable dry thread sewing machine; one or more rows of stitching 20 being used as may be desired. It will be observed that the-upper 22 is received between the two flaps and all three layers are secured together. Shoes in which this novel welt is incorporated preferably have a lining 24 of the usual length for lasting in under the insole and this merely hangs down loosely (see Fig. 3) in front of the bed of the sewing machine during the stitching of the welt to the upper.

The welted upper is then assembled on a last with an insole 26. At this stage or preliminarily thereto the extension I6 is outturned and the embraced edge of the upper lies below the bottom of the last. The lining 24, if present is lasted in and may be fastened by cement, or. otherwise, to the insole (Fig. 5). Any approved method of lasting the welted upper, to bring the flesh face of the welt extension into substantially the plane of the bottom face of the insole, may be employed. Bed lasting has been found to be eiiicient for this purpose. If required after lasting, the welt is pounded down to furnish what is known as a level bottom for receiving an outsole without any filler. Any insole tacks are removed to leave a floating insole in theflnished shoe and the shoe is then bottomed with an outsole 28 (Fig. 6), the contacting facesbeing preferably first cemented and edge pounded for a tight joint along the welt. The outsole is fastened, as by an outseam 30, preferably stitched close to the shoulder to maintain the welt tight against the edge of the insole. Later shoemaking steps may be as usual.

Fig. 6 represents the bottoming of a work shoe as just described in which the welt flap I2 covers the upper to a width of five to six sixteenths of an inch and is of rugged construction to give protection against hard wear. As illustrated the entire upper is welted the welt being skived and lapped as shown at 32. Some manuf cturers may apply the welt only to the vamp in which case the ends of the welt are butted and tucked in at the shank as in Goodyear work. i

For dress shoes the welt may be secured to the upper as shown by Fig. 4. The flap I2 is lifted from the flap l4 and the upper 22 is stitched solely to the flesh flap. The grain faced flap I2 is then cemented to the upper which may be chamfered or roughened on its grain, face to aid permanent adhesion. A further refinement may consist in skiving the flesh. face of the outer flap l2 to a feather or'near feather edge to avoid undue thickness or awkward lines in the finished shoe. This is shown at 34 in Fig. 7. Again, with the heavier weight of welting it may be desirable to skive the flesh fiap for a smooth contour beneath the liningas shown at36 in Fig. 8. Any combination of skiving either the welt-flaps or the upper may be employed to obtain comfort or tightness.

The upper after being welted in any of these ways 25 is processed in any suitable manner.

The modification of Figs. 9 and 10 aids in lasting. Here the welting, formed as hereinbefore described, .is provided with an attached piece. of

sheet material which serves as lasting allow-' ance. The welting may have a strip of canvas, upper leather or the likeattached to-liev at the outer face of the flesh flap 40,- which constitutes the outerof the two upturned flaps, by cement or stitching and having a width substantially thatof the welting. The proportions of the grain faced flap 42 and of the extension 44 are not altered. The extra piece may be attached to the welting either before or while the upper is being attached and if the latter then the dry thread seams 4B. serve to hold all of the parts together. The securement 41 of the strip provides a lasting allowance or free flange 48 that is extendable inward of the welt extension as shownin Fig. 9. This free flange is seized by the laster in drawing the welted upper over the last and is secured to the insole as hereinbefore described for the lining 50. Littleway process staples are illustrated in Fig. 10.

Shoes manufactured as herein described have the general appearance of shoes sewed with a reverse welt but the present invention greatly improves that style of shoema-king by reason of the additional welt flap inside the upper which is not only a reinforcement for the upper but binds the welt in position and serves as an anchor for the welt extension. Those skilled in shoe making will recognize the eflicient waterproof seam between the welt and upper and the weatherproof feature provided by the upward continuation of the welt extension without a break in the material. Water, sand and dirt have no opportunity for entry into the shoe. The floating insole and contacting outsole without filler, provide great flexibility even in the larger work shoes having a heavy duty outsole. The saving of upper stock, as stated, is considerable and the process may be practised with all'kinds of upper stock and for all sizes of shoes, merely selecting a welt strand of proportionate size. While the appearance of a thread seam or seams along the exposed flap of the welt will probably be preferred by shoe manufacturers, it being understood that such seams may be used on dress shoes as well as work shoes, it is within the scope of the invention for those who desire decorative effects to use any kind of ornamental fastening available. The upstanding grain faced welt flap also lends itself to many forms of ornamentation in combination with stitched seams. Preferably the exposed flesh edge of the grain faced flap is colored to conform to the color of the upper '(see Fig. 6).

Those skilled in the manufacture of shoes will recognize that the process hereinbefore described may be varied to suit particular conditions. For example, it is within the scope of the invention to insert the short upper between the upper embracing flaps of the welt while the welt is in a flat or unformed condition and then attach the welt to the upper by stitching or otherwise, any slight buckling of the'outer flap 12 being ironed out after lasting. Such a mode of securement is desirable for the larger and less flexible welts for work shoes and the like. Bending heavy welts on the last to angular form is facilitated by the fold scoring; in fact the welting will preferably be formed-up before being soled so that after flattening out reforming on the last is easily accomplished especially as the flesh flap will stretch somewhat during the welt beating operation. Additional protection against the weather or other harsh conditions may be gained by cementing one or both of the upper embracing welt flaps with a waterproof cement such as compo before the upper is .stitched. On shoes fltted with a continuous welt the joint may be made by skiving or by butting the welt ends as the manufacturer may desire, the welt ends being so cut that the joint or splice is both neat and tight.

Inthe followingclaims the term upper" is used'to include either only the forepart of the upper when the Welting is not to be applied about the heel end of the shoe, or a complete upper when the shoe is to be completely welted.

Reference is made to the co-pendlng application of Pearl C. Arnold Ser. No. 664,742, filed of even date herewith, claiming an improvement, on the invention herein disclosed, except that the modification of Figs. 9 and 10 herein is acknowledged to .be subordinate to the invention claimed in said co-pending Arnold application.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and its preferred embodiments and the method of its manufacture having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is:

1. In a welted shoe of the type having an upper too short to overlast, a welt comprising a strand of welting material having one edge split transversely forming two flaps at said edge integral with the welt extension, said flaps being both turned substantially perpendicular to the welt extension for embracing said short shoe upper.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which at least one of said welt flaps is tapered outwardly to a thin edge.

3. In a welted shoe of the type having an upper too short to overlast, a grain leather Welting strand consisting of a grain extension and grain faced and flesh edge-flaps both of substantially the same weight and integral with said extension, said two flaps being bent together into parallel and upstanding position relative to the grain face of said extension to lie with said grain faced flap outside and said flesh flap inside the lower edge of the short upper.

4. Welting for shoes having a short upper comprising strip material bent to right-angular form along a longitudinal fold line, one flange of said angular welting constituting the welt extension and its other flange consisting of inner and outer flaps adapted to embrace said short shoe .upper between them.

5. Welting according to claim 4 in which said welt extension consists .of solid material and said two flaps extend from and are integral with one edge thereof.

6. Welting according to claim 4 having an additional piece of strip material constituting lasting allowance attached to the outer of the two flaps.

7. In a welted shoe of the type having an upper too short to overlast, grain leather welting comprising a solid grain extension at one margin and contiguous grain faced and flesh flaps at the other margin, said flaps and said extension being folded with the grain flap inside along their longitudinal line of ioinder to produce welting having a substantially right-angular cross section with the'extension forming an outturned flange about the upper, and an outsole secured to said flange.

8. The invention according to claim 7 in which an additional piece of strip material is attached to lie at the outer face of said flesh flap and is extendable from said extension to provide lasting allowance.

9. Welting for shoes having a short upper comprising a welt extension having two separable flaps at one edge thereof adapted to be turned upward relatively to said extension to receive said short upper between them, and an additional piece of strip material attached to the flap which is outside when in upturned position and having a free flange constituting lasting allowance.

10. A shoe comprising an insole, an upper too short to overlast, a welt having its extension turned outward from the insole and having a pair of upstanding flaps adapted to receive said upper between them, said upper being secured within said flaps, and a suitably secured out-sole bottoming the shoe.

11. A shoe according to claimlO in which said welt consists of grain leather and said flap at the outer face of the upper is grain faced.

12. A shoe comprising an insole, an upper too short to overlast, a welt having its extension turned outward from the insole and having a pair of upstanding flaps adapted to receive said upper between them, said upper being secured within said flaps, a lining of lasting length secured to the under face of the insole but unsecured to said welt, and a suitably secured outsole bottoming the shoe.

13. The method of making shoes which includes cutting an upper too short to overlast, supplying a welt having two separableflaps at one edge of its extension, attaching .tiielower edge of said upper between and to saidefiaps; as: sembling an insole and said welted upper one. last, lasting, and applying an outsole to said insole and to the welt extension outturned to lie substantially in the plane of the insole.

14. The method described by claim 13 in which the upper has a lining of lasting length attached thereto and said lasting is effected by drawing said lining upward and inward over the insole and said welted edge of the upper against the edge of the insole.

15. The method described by claim 13 in which said upper is attached by stitching to the welt flap at its inner face and by cementing to the welt flap at its outer face.

16. The method of making shoes which includes cutting an upper too short to overlast, supplying a welt strand substantially wider than is required for a welt extension having one edge split longitudinally to provide two flaps, bend ing said two flaps at substantial right angles to said extension and then securing the lower edge or the upper between said flaps providing an outtumed flange thereon, assembling an insole and said welted upper on a last, lasting by stretching the upper until the outturned flange is drawn opposite the edge of the insole-or it may be drawn substantially level with the bottom of the insole-and applying an outsole to said insole and to the outturned flange provided by said welt extension.

1'1. A welted shoe comprising an upper too short to overlast, a welt formed of strip material bent to a right-angular form along a longitudinal fold line, one flange of said angular welt constituting the welt extension andits other flange consisting of two flaps within which the lower edge of the short upper is secured, said extension forming an outurned flange at said lower edge of the upper, and an outsole secured to said out-turned flange.

18. The method of making shoes which includes cutting an upper too short' to overlast, supplying a welt having two separable flaps at one edge of its extension, attaching the lower edge of said upper-between and to said flaps,

assembling said welted upper on a last and tum- WILLIAM C. VIZARD. 20

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION..

PatentNo. 2,059,370. May 5, 1936.

WILLIAM c. VIZARD.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, first column; lines 9 and 17, for the word "flaps" read flap; page .3, first column, line 24, for "soled" read sold; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office. Signed and sealed this 9th day June, A. D. 1936.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

